Detection of Mismatch Repair Gene Expression in Urologic Malignancies

Genitourinary malignancies were diagnosed in over 250,000 U.S. men and women in the year 2000, and carcinomas of the prostate, kidney and urothelium accounted for over 20% of all adult malignancies (1 ). In the twenty-first century, oncologists and molecular biologists will be challenged to expand and advance diagnostic and treatment options for genitourinary malignancies. In order to accomplish these goals, an increasing armamentarium of molecular reagents will be necessary for analysis of molecular pathogenesis. Identification and characterization of genes important for initiation and progression of urologic malignancies should facilitate development of clinically useful reagents as prognostic and metastatic markers.